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The 20th-Century
Children's Book Treasury :
Picture Books and Stories
to Read Aloud

by Janet Schulman (Editor),
Simon Boughton (Editor)

Unparalleled in scope and quality and designed for reading aloud and sharing,
this splendid anthology brings together 43 of the most memorable and beloved
children's books of our time. Here are classics such as Madeline andCurious
George; contemporary bestsellers such as Guess How Much I Love You and The
Stinky Cheese Man; Caldecott Medal winners such as Make Way for Ducklings
and Where the Wild Things Are; and family favorites such as Goodnight Moon,
The Sneetches, and Winnie-the-Pooh.

The selections range from concept books and wordless books to picture books
and short read-aloud stories, and represent the complete array of childhood
themes and reading needs: ABCs, number and color books, stories about going
to bed and going to school; tales about growing up, siblings, parents, and
grandparents; animal stories, fantasies; fables; magical stories; stories
about everyday life--and more. Also included are an introduction, capsule
biographies of the 62 writers and artists represented in the collection,
color-coded running heads indicating age levels, and indexes.

As a gift, a keepsake, and a companion in a child's first steps toward a
lifelong love of reading, The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury belongs
in every family's bookcase.

A tale of a fantastical, underwater world of mythical monsters and a mysterious
sea captain, this adventure by Jules Verne is a timeless classic. The
action-packed story lines retain all the impact of the author's own words,
while photos and narrative illustrations help readers to absorb the full
flavor of the original novel. Full color.

This omnibus volume brings together the definitive texts of three outstanding
plays by one of America's most distinguished writers. Thronton Wilder was
equally prolific and successful as a dramatist and novelist. Our Town (1938)
and The Skin of Our Teeth (1942) were each awarded the Pulitzer Prize. The
Matchmaker (1955) was originally staged as The Merchant of Yonkers (1938)
and later appeared as a hit musical, Hello Dolly! (1964).

Mark Twain's classic novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, tells the
story of a teenaged misfit who finds himself floating on a raft down the
Mississippi River with an escaping slave, Jim. In the course of their perilous
journey, Huck and Jim meet adventure, danger, and a cast of characters who
are sometimes menacing and often hilarious.

Though some of the situations in Huckleberry Finn are funny in themselves
(the cockeyed Shakespeare production in Chapter 21 leaps instantly to mind),
this book's humor is found mostly in Huck's unique worldview and his way
of expressing himself. Describing his brief sojourn with the Widow Douglas
after she adopts him, Huck says: "After supper she got out her book and learned
me about Moses and the Bulrushers, and I was in a sweat to find out all about
him; but by and by she let it out that Moses had been dead a considerable
long time; so then I didn't care no more about him, because I don't take
no stock in dead people." Underlying Twain's good humor is a dark subcurrent
of Antebellum cruelty and injustice that makes The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn a frequently funny book with a serious message.

The irrepressible Tom Sawyer and his best friend, Huck Finn, enjoy a host
of sometimes entertaining, sometimes dangerous adventures as they play pirates
on a deserted island, attend their own funeral, stumble upon a midnight murder,
and run afoul of the evil Injun Joe. Reprint.

Hailed by Henry James as "the finest piece of imaginative writing yet put
forth in the country," Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter reaches to
our nation's historical and moral roots for the material of great tragedy.
Set in an early New England colony, the novel shows the terrible impact a
single, passionate act has on the lives of three members of the community:
the defiant Hester Prynne; the fiery, tortured Reverend Dimmesdale; and the
obsessed, vengeful Chillingworth.

With The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne became the first American novelist to
forge from our Puritan heritage a universal classic, a masterful exploration
of humanity's unending struggle with sin, guilt and pride.

Reading this book makes you feel like your floating all the days by, down
the Mississippi. Twain is amazing as he paints such a great picture of the
time and life of Huck Finn. Even when Huck was one of the richest kids in
town it didn't matter. Money wasn't an issue. Freedom was. It was everything.
He hated having to have manners and having to comb his hair in the morning.
His new found life bored him. So he took off on a great adventure that will
leave you wishing you were on the raft with him

I highly recommend reading Treasure Island to anyone who likes suspenseful
classics. Although Robert Lewis Stevenson wrote it in 1883, the classic is
still in print and is appropriate for anyone in grades 5-8. The journey begins
with no major problems, but when Jim and the rest of the crew approach their
destination everyone on the ship gets their own idea of the way things are
going to work. Throughout the story Jim Hawkins, the main character, takes
risks for the well-being of himself and his colleagues. Finally, his shipmates
lose faith in him but he prevails. The events that take place in this story
are extremely exciting and surprising. This book is one of my favorites and
should be read by all.

I re-read Robinson Crusoe and found it to be very rewarding. In addition
to being a good adventure story, it has great insights into human nature
and the struggle of a man in his relations with God, other humans and nature.
Crusoe serves as a character with whom many people can identify. Contrary
to what a few other reviewers said, a careful reading of Robinson Crusoe
shows that the main character is very sympathetic to persons of other races
and religions. Slavery and religious conflict pervaded the world when this
book was written. For his time, Robinson Crusoe treats persons of other
backgrounds with respect, decency and understanding.

by Charles Dickens, Humphrey House (Introduction), Humphy House (Designer)

A reader from Vancouver, BC , October 30, 1998

If you read one Dickens book, this should be it

Stay away from A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations!!! They are boring,
confusing, wordy and highly over-rated. Oliver Twist, however, is humourous
and very easy to read. The characters are delightful and memorable. Bumble
the Beadle, the Artful Dodger, Fagan, Bill Sykes and, of course, Oliver himself.
Just because a book deals with what others believe to be "timeless" themes
(as are supposedly the case in A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations)
doesn't make them great books. Even if we assume that other Dickens novels
are well enough written to qualify as great, they still need to be readable,
understandable and a joy to read. Thye are not. If a book is complicated
or confusing then, no matter how well it may be written it is not great.
Oliver Twist is great.

From the time he is transformed from a block of wood into a runaway puppet
to the happy ending where he is turned into a real boy, Pinocchio and his
notorious nose have fired the imaginations of children for over 100 years.
The rich illustrations in this Pictureback retelling capture the folk-tale
flavor of this timeless favorite. Full color

I read this book when I was a kid, and I can't recommend it highly enough
to parents and kids who are looking for classic high adventure. It's timeless,
yet provides good role models for boys (Robin Hood was the original cool
do-gooder) and for girls, since Roger Greene's Maid Marian is more than a
match for Robin with sword and bow and arrow.

Each chapter is one case, so it is easy to read. The cases are so easy to
solve, after sherlock Holmes tells us the clues to the evidences of course!
When I was done with this book, I knew so much about Shelock Holmes' personal
life and habits through his best friend, Watson's thorough, vivid details.
I enjoyed this book a lot because it brings me to a natural state of sleepiness
every time I finish reading a case. Read it!

Although there have been many illustrated editions of Alice, rarely has one
been done in Lewis Carroll's own visual medium of photography. Abelardo Morell,
quickly gaining recognition as one of the major American photographers of
our time, is the ideal artist to take on this challenge. His early photographs
of illustrated books are striking images of worlds within worlds that in
their alterations of an illustration's space and shape have the distinct
flavor and mystery of Wonderland. So too do his oversize camera obscura
images--magical, cityscape projections that have received national
attention--mirror Carroll's own passion for upside-down and multiple worlds.
For Alice, Morell goes further, photo-graphing the Tenniel characters and
then staging them in evocative three-dimensional settings. In his fascinating
introduction, historian and critic Leonard S. Marcus offers a glimpse into
the intriguing connection between Lewis Carroll's pioneering efforts as a
photographer and his timeless contributions to the world of nonsense. Marcus
shows in what ways Lewis Carroll and Abelardo Morell are kindred spirits
in the fierce delight they take in the crazy patchwork quality of life and
in their shared belief that nonsense makes the best sense of all.

For more than 100 years, the beloved stories of Hans Christian Andersen have
transported young readers to magical worlds of the imagination. The 47 tales
collected here have been beautifully translated and enhanced by line drawings.

Whenever this book comes back into print I buy at least 6 copies. I traditonally
give this book to children I cherish on their 5th birthday; it must be read
TO them, but they love it. (I have a first edition that was given to me when
I turned 5.) I also give it to couples as a shower gift; "The Animal Family"
is an excellent book about love and marriage. This book seems to go in and
out of print frequently--buy it while you can!